Il tribunale svizzero mette al bando il marchio alimentare messicano “razzista” “Bimbo”

>__The Mexican food company Bimbo cannot register its trademark “Bimbo QSR” in Switzerland. The Federal Administrative Court confirmed the rejection due to the racist connotations of the term.__

>The Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) justified its rejection with the “deeply derogatory and racist” meaning of the term “bimbo” for dark-skinned people.

>In its complaint to the Federal Administrative Court, Grupo Bimbo SAB claimed that Bimbo should be understood according to its meaning “toddler” in the Italian language. In addition, the addition of “QSR” for Quick Service Restaurant means that the word stands in a context that excludes any racist innuendo.

>The judges in St. Gallen rejected these arguments in a ruling published on Tuesday. They note that the question is judged based on average understanding. The intention with which the disputed word is used is not relevant.

Bimbo is a growing conglomerate in the US, where everybody sues everybody, and they appear to operate with little controversy. No one seems overly offended by the name, and indeed we all seem to find it a little amusing.

But in American English, a “Bimbo” is an attractive but dim-witted woman. It’s not a racial slur in our culture.